Door for kitchen cabinets



June 11, 1929. E TRAM L 1,716,394

DOOR FOR KITCHEN CABINETS Filed Dec. 2, 1927 WW /m Patented .le 11,129..

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EARL Illl. TRELL, OF EL PASO, TE

Til S,

DOOR FOR KITCHEN CINETS.

Application filed December 2, 1927. Serial No. 237,216

In the usual kitchen cabinet the front is provided with two doors whichswing away from each other on vertical axes. Such construction is opento objections, since the doors a necessarily swing out into the room andtake up considerable space, and there is always danger of interferencewith the same. The present invention provides doors for the upper partof the kitchen which swing upwardly on horizontal axes so that when openthey are well above the head of an ordinary person, and do notinterfere. with anything in the room. The invention also comprises meansfrom one position to another and aspring means so arranged that it tendsto hold them from displacement in either the open or the closedposition. The spring relieves the weight of the doors until they arepartly 2 closed and thereafter hastens the return of the doors to theclosed position.

While illustrated in connection with the doors of a kitchen cabinet andwhile it may find its greatest utility in such use, nevertheless it isobvious that the same principle may be applied to doors in otherarticles oifurniture, and the invention is not to be regarded as limitedby the specific illustration;

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a kitchen cabinet embodying theinvention.

Figure 2 is a vertical section through the upper part of the same withthe doors in closed position.

Figure 3 is a view of one side of the door .casing showing in crosssection a portion of the doors in open position.

Figure 4 is a fore and aft section of the upper part of the cabinetshowing the doors in open position and the invention embodied therein.

Figure 5 is a perspective detached view of one of the brackets connectedto the doors.

Figure 6 is a section on the line 66 of Figure 3.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of one of the corners of the lower door.t

Figure 8 illustrateshow the doors 1 and 4 are hinged together.

The drawings illustrate a kitchen cabinet A having shelves B in itsupper portion and side frame members G at the front thereof. It isprovided with the usual sides D. These parts may be of any ordinary ordesired concabinet especially for guiding the doors struction, so far asthe invention itself is concerned.

An upper door 1 is hinged at 2 on a horizontal axis to the upper framemember 3 of the cabinet. A lower door 4 is hinged at 5 to the lower edge6 of the upper door 1. The lower edge 7 of the lower door is adapted tofit against a frame member 8 when the door is closed. The lower door isprovided with one or more knobs-or finger pieces 9 for convenience inoperating the same.

To the inside of each side member C is fastened a metal strip 10 havinga cut-out or groove 11 running longitudinally thereof, and also providedwith two shoulders 12 and 13. The. lower corners of the lower door haveright angle metal members 14 fastened thereto which carry projectingpins 15 that fit into the guideway 11 so that the lower door is guidedin its movement to and from the closed position. When in the closedposition, the pins 15 the shoulder 13, while in the upper position theymay rest upon the shoulders 12 and prevent accidental displacement ofthe door.

The member 16 is fast to the inside of the side D of the cabinet, and alever 17 is pivoted thereto by a screw or pivot member 18 which passesthrough a hole 19 in said lever.

are adapted to contact with The outer arm 20 of the lever is pivoted at21 to a metal member having arms 22 through which passes a rod 23supported at its end by brackets 24 carried on the inside of the edge ofthe upper door 1. This provides for a sliding movement between the upperdoor. and the outer end of the lever 17, and also permits the necessarypivotal movement of said lever.

The inwardly extending arm 25 of this lever is provided with a pluralityof holes 26 through any one of which may be placed an eye-bolt 27 heldin position by a nut 28. A

spring 29 has one end attached to the bolt 27 and the other end isconnected to a similar eye-bolt 30 carried by the member 16.

When the parts are in the open position shown in Figure 4 it will benoted that the spring 29 is exerting a downward pull on the outer end 25of the lever 17, which at that time lies at the right hand side of thepivot 18, and therefore this tends to hold'the parts in the Figure 4position. When the doors are moved toward the closed position by pullingon the knob 9, the lever 17 will be swung where the lower shelf B tofold against about the pivot 18 and the point of connection of thespring 29 at the eye-bolt 27 will move in the arc of the circle shown inFigure 4 in dot-and dash lines until it reaches the point a. At thistime, as shown by the straight line connecting the point a with theeye-bolt 30, the spring will lie on the left hand side of the pivot 18and will therefore tend to hold the parts in the closed position shownin Figure 2. It is also to be noted that in the opening movement thespring travels from a position very slightly at the left of the pivotpoint 18 to a position located a consi'derable distance to the right of,said pivot point. It is therefore obvious that the doors can be moved toa part-way open position will be exposed and allowed to remain in suchposition. The spring will at that time lie on the right hand side of thepivot and prevent the doors from returning to normal or closed positionunder their own weight, while at the same time the spring is not strongenough to move the doors of itself to the completely open position.

It will be obvious that the invention may be applied to kitchen cabinetsor other articles of furniture of similar type which may difi'er widelyin their specific characteristics. It is also apparent that variousdetails of construction may be widely modified without in any waydeparting from the essential features of the invention, which are to beregarded as limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A cabinet having a door hinged thereto to swing on an axis, a seconddoor hinged to the first to swing on a parallel axis, means on saidcabinet for guiding the free end of the second door, a member pivotallyconnected intermediate its ends to the cabinet and aving one endslidably connected to the first door, and a spring connected to theother end of said member and positioned so that the spring swings fromone side to the other of the pivotal axis of said member during movementof the doors to or from open or closed position. a

2. A cabinet having a door hinged thereto to swing on an axis, a seconddoor hinged to the first door to swing on a parallel axis to foldagainst the first door in close relation,

1 means on said cabinetfor guiding the freeend of the second door, andmeans normally located hidden from view inside the cabinet and adaptedto have a portion thereof project from the cabinet between the doorswhen they are folded open and movable from one position to anotherduring the folding and unfolding of the doors to hold the doors ineither open or closed position.

'3. A cabinet having a door hinged thereto to swing on an axis, a seconddoor hinged to the first door to swing on a parallel axis the firstdoor, means on said of the pivotal axis cabinet for, guiding the freeend of the second door, a lever member pivotally mounted inside thecabinet and normally hidden from view and slidably connected to thefirst door, and a spring connected at its ends to said lever and to thecabinet, said spring end connections being so positioned relatively tothe lever pivot that the position of the spring relative to said leveris changed during the folding and unfolding of said doors Whereb thesaid spring will tend to hold the doors closed or folded openaccordingly as it is posit-ioned.

4. A cabinet havinga door hinged thereto to swing on an axis,'a seconddoor hinged to the first door to swing on a parallel axis to foldagainst the first door in close relation, means on said cabinet forguiding the free end of the second door, a lever pivoted to the insideof the cabinet and slidably connected to the first door, said leverbeing normally hidden from view inside the cabinet and having itsslidably connected portion adapted to extend out of the cabinet betweenthe folded doors when folded open and shaped to parallel the doors. inclose relation when closed.v

5.,A cabinet having a door hinged thereto to swing on an axis, a seconddoor hinged to the first to swing on aparallel axis, means on saidcabinet for guiding the free end of the second door, a member pivotallyconnected intermediate its ends to the cabinet and having one endslidably connected to the first door, and a spring connected to theother end of said member and positioned so that the spring swings fromone side to the other of the pivotal axis of said member during movementof the doors to or from open or closed position, said lever having itsslidably connected end shaped to project between the doors when foldedopen and to lie closely adjacent and parallel the doors when closed.

6. A cabinet having a door hinged thereto to swing on an axis, a seconddoor hinged to the first to swing on a parallel axis, means on saidcabinet for guiding the free end of the second door, a member pivotallyconnected intermediate its ends to the cabinet and having one endslidably connectedto the first door, and a spring connected to the otherend of said member and positioned so that the spring swings from oneside to the other of said member during movement of the doors to orfromopen or closed position, said other end of the lever being offset tocause the spring to bepositioned a greater distance to one side of thepivotal axis at one position of the doors than at the other position ofsaid doors.

to to swing on an axis, a second door hingedto the first to. swing on aparallel axis, means on said cabinet for guiding the free end of thesecond door, a member pivotally connect- I 7. A cabinet having a doorhinged thereed intermediate itsends to the cabinet and having one endslidably connected to the first door, and a spring connected to theother end of said member and positioned so that the spring swings fromone side to the other of the pivotal axis of said member during movementof the doors to or from open or closed position, said other end of thelever being offset to cause the spring to be positioned a greaterdistance to one side of the pivotal axisat one position of the doorsthan at the other position of said doors, ing its slidably connected endshaped to project between the doors when folded open and to lie closelyadjacent and parallel the doors when closed.

8. A cabinet having a door hinged thereto to swing on an axis, a seconddoor hinged to the first to swing on a parallel axis, means said leverhav- .on said cabinetfor guiding the free end of the second door, amember pivotally connected intermediate its ends to the cabinet and hav-1 ing one end slidably connected to the first door, and a springconnected to the other end of said member and positioned so that thespring swings from one side to the other of the pivotal axis of saidmember during movement of the doors to or from open or closed position,said tended beyond the side edges of the doors to provide at least oneend recess, and said slidably connected lever ends being offset toenable positioning of the spring and remaining lever portions in an endrecess. I

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

EARL M. TRAELL.

cabinet having end walls ex-

